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  THE KNIGHT

  Copyright © 2019 Kayla Eshbaugh

  All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design by Kayla Eshbaugh Edited by Gregory D. Strawn

  First Edition, 2020

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  The Knight (The Heir Series, #1)

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Author Note

  Pre-order Shattered Heir, book 2 in The Heir Series today!

  Sneak peek of Shattered Heir: | Chapter 1

  The Heir: Chapter 1

  Chapter Two: Clock

  About the Author

  To my boys,

  May you always keep your promises and know what it truly means to be brave and strong.

  Ryker’s Story

  Chapter 1

  IT WAS DARK IN THAT hospital room where I lay close to her. It was so dark, so painfully silent—other than the whirl of the machines, echoing to the beating of her heart—her sad, broken, unmendable heart.

  “Em,” I whispered into her hair as I placed my lips on her head, not kissing her exactly. The pull I felt toward her was stronger than ever. I watched the machines’ lights for a time as they flickered on and off as she slept. The strength of the bond between us always surprised me; it was even stronger after her parents’ deaths because, in their absence, her soul’s melody was free.

  As I continued to stare at the machines, which tracked Emma’s precious life, their constant beeping and flashing lights reminded me of an ambulance’s emergency siren, and I had to turn away. She had cried for hours. How could anyone blame her? I could not help but cry, too, as I held her in my arms. How had this happened? How had I let this happen? I wanted to curse the ancients—or my bloodline of guardian knights—anything and everything. Having my ancient heir murdered while I still lived!? Let’s just say, that wasn't something I ever expected to experience in my life, and I never wanted to experience losing him—Lamont. That would haunt me until the day I died.

  It was not news to any guardian knight—what excruciating pain I or any knight would be in if our heir ever died. They taught us what happened when our Ancient Descendants moved from this life to the next. The echo of the guardian warning wailed inside of me: “We feel it in our bones, in our souls, and we will know the loss of them until our own hearts stop beating.” They had taught me that warning since I was a child. Still, the realization of what life would be like without him, of the pain that Emma would endure because of the loss of him? I couldn’t think about it for too long. It was so very painful.

  Where was he? Was he with the ancients? I called forth my belief in them, my faith. I paused as I let part of my melody free, and I listened as it reached out to her. I watched as she moved closer, her melody reacting to mine. Could she sense me? I tried to ignore it, to focus on the silence of the room, instead of the constant beep of the machines, but her melody was too strong to ignore.

  Most knights never experience such feelings of failure, or of the sorrow that accompanies an ancient heir’s death—because they sacrifice themselves, their very lives. Most guardian knights of Terra die in the service of the ancient line. I would have gladly laid down my life for Lamont. I just didn't get the chance. Why had I been at that football game? I wanted to punch something, to yell and wail from the pain in my soul. I wished to no longer exist, but then I remembered Emma, there in my arms, broken and weak, and I knew that above all else, she needed me.

  I patted my face where the tears had poured silently down. I knew that Emma didn’t need to see me weak, not when she was so broken. I knew exactly what she needed; she needed a home, a place to belong, and I would not move an inch away from her until I wasn't needed anymore. I would be anything and everything that she would or could ever want. It was my purpose; she was my reason for living. Yet—I felt more than just the guardian knight’s commitment to her. I wished that I could kiss her, feel the curves of her lips on my own. I cleared my throat and looked away from her. The pull, the ever-constant need I had to kiss Emma never left me—even in those horrible circumstances. What is wrong with me? She is there suffering, and I am thinking about that? I berated myself. I looked to her lips and reached out to touch them with my fingertips. It was as if they specifically called out to me, drawing me to her, begging me to truly be hers. Still, she didn’t know what a kiss meant—she didn't know what a kiss meant from me. No one except Mary knew what my kiss really meant. I pulled away yet again, annoyed with the pull. She buried her face in my chest, wrapping her arms tighter around me. Her melody ached, and a river of feelings poured from her directly into me. It appeared that she believed that if she let go of me, she would never get me back.

  “I’ll always be here for you, Em.” The words were automatic—my own feelings, mingled with my guardian knight duties. She was my ancient. She was my ancient heir to protect, and I swore it again, right then in that hospital bed with her cradled in my arms: I would protect her. I would be anything and everything she needed. It was my duty, and I would fulfill it. I felt the oath of the guardian knights pass through my lips in a soft whisper as I lay close to Emma:

  “May my melody never corrupt,

  may no vow I make break,

  may my soul never sing false,

  and may no heir die before my last breath.”

  The knowledge that I had failed hit me again. The sting of living without Lamont hurt more than I could ever express. “May no heir die before my last breath,” I whispered again, disgusted with myself. I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to use the ancient gifts again, because I had failed in the worst way possible, but I would do all that I could to keep the vow I had made to Lamont to keep Emma safe. As a guardian knight of Terra, I was created, bred, born, raised, and trained to be a knight, and that's who I was, who I always wanted to be.

  Earthlings, while humans like us Terrans, were bold. They also had no shame, but I learned a lot over the years about how Earthlings readily went after their dreams, often broke the rules, and did all they could do to make their way in their world—to follow their heart's desires. When they did that, when they broke the rules and made their own way, they did not seem to suffer from doing such things; it was odd. I did not think I could ever live with myself if I were to break a vow. I could barely live with myself as it was, knowing that I had not been there to prevent Lamont from dying. These observations which I had made over the years—that so many humans did not take their vows, promises, and duties seriously—alarmed me.

  I knew that I would do anything and everything within my power to protect Emma. The constant need I had to protect, help, and comfort her—was so intense that it was hard to breathe, especially with her soul’s melody fully e
xposed. The one thing I feared most was that Emma might be the one person in all the worlds who could cause me to break all of my vows, and all of my promises—if doing so would make her happy. I knew I would do just about anything for her. If I was honest with myself, however, if I was totally and completely honest, the truth of what Emma had the power to make me do, or what I would do because of how I felt about her, terrified me. She had become my everything; there was only a thin boundary between a guardian knight and his ancient heir, and the boundary between Emma and me was thinning out more and more each day.

  If an ancient heir became corrupted, the vows and the ancient powers bestowed upon them would not hold. If I became corrupted, it would strip me of my birthright. Being something other than a guardian knight was unfathomable to me. I loved being a guardian knight of Terra. I loved protecting the ancient heirs, and I hated that I had not been there to save Lamont and Ara.

  Emma gasped in my arms, and I wondered if she was having another nightmare about the crash. She whimpered for a few moments and then was silent once again. I brushed a few strands of hair from her face. She had tied her hair up in a loose bun, the way she always did before bed. How could someone so beautiful be in so much pain? I wondered. It did not seem right; it seemed against nature. But if I knew anything of this world, it was that beauty was pain—most of the time.

  I hadn’t seen many emotions from Emma throughout the years. Being a shielded soul, as she was, it was to be expected. However, Lamont and Ara wanted me to know Emma, to bond with her in a way that no knight had bonded with any ancient ever before. So they unshielded her soul from time to time, only a limited amount. Usually, as she was normally without a soul’s melody, she went along with the flow of things, which was normal for someone with a shielded soul. But whenever her soul’s melody was partially unguarded, Emma's feelings and emotions were very heightened.

  I REMEMBERED A PARTICULAR time when Emma was twelve. She and I enjoyed playing in the forest behind Mary's flower shop. I remembered watching as She climbed on a fallen branch, trying to keep her balance as she walked, her blond waves flowing in the wind as she ran, and her smile warmed her face like a sunrise. She had always looked at me in a unique way. Lamont had unshielded her soul just enough that year so that I could hear her melody, but no one else could. Being around Emma always made my soul lighter. It made all the heartache of my past bearable. When unshielded, her melody would swarm warmly around me, her thoughts and feelings were as clear as the sky was blue on that cloudless afternoon so long ago. She liked me. On that day, I heard her melody sing it. It was the first time she had thought of it—the first time I had ever heard her ponder and reflect upon me in that way. I spoke back to her with my melody, but I knew she would never understand. She had not been trained, and without that training, it was difficult to understand another's feelings, to reach into their soul, even when their melody was blasting very loud.

  "Ry, are you coming?" she asked me, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear.

  "Yeah, I’m just enjoying the warm weather. I think summer is coming."

  "I hate summer; it’s too hot," she groaned as she bent down and picked up a wildflower. I watched as she brought the bloom to her nose.

  "It’s beautiful today though," I answered. She smiled and motioned for me to take her hand. I did, gladly, and like always, her warmth covered me. She smiled, and her melody wondered what it would be like to kiss me. I almost dropped her hand, but I didn’t—I knew I couldn't do anything that would cause her to think that I knew what she had been feeling. If I kissed her, I knew Lamont would not have minded, because he trusted me above anyone else. But the real worry of mine was: could I handle only one kiss?

  "Hey, I’m nervous for next year, Ry. You’ll be in high school."

  "You can't ever get rid of me, Em." I squeezed her hand.

  "Ry, you’re my best friend. I was wondering if maybe—" She paused as if she wasn't sure she wanted to say something. I did not want to hear her soul’s melody before her words came out.

  "You can ask me anything, Emma." I smiled at her, holding her attention.

  "Kiss me," she whispered, and I opened my eyes wide as I watched her blush.

  "Kiss you?" I asked.

  "Yes, I’m afraid if you don't kiss me now, I'll never get the chance, you know?" She smiled, and I could tell that she was trying to act like this was not a huge deal to her.

  "Never get the chance to kiss me? Or someone else?" I asked, rubbing my thumb up and down her knuckles.

  "I want you to be my first kiss, Ry. You've always been there for me, and our friendship is so strong that it wouldn't mess it up."

  "I see you've thought a lot about this."

  "I have, and if you don’t like me that way, it's fine, I still want my first kiss with you."

  "So let me get this straight, you just want to use my lips? Like a test? Like practice?"

  "Oh, um, I mean—" She turned away from me.

  "I'll do it," I blurted. I had heard her soul, and she was worried that I was mad at her for the suggestion. She liked me more than a friend, and she wanted to see what kisses were all about.

  "You will?" she asked, her green eyes sparkling.

  "Yes, what are best friends for?" I shrugged, acting like it wasn't as big of a deal as it actually was. Inside, my heart was attacking me with joy.

  "Okay, then." She cleared her throat and leaned in.

  I moved away and smiled. "Not right this instant, Emma." I touched her cheek, and she looked embarrassed. "But soon." In reality, I wanted to kiss her senseless the next second, but I needed to make sure that I didn't cause any problems. I needed to make sure my soul was shielded.

  THE MEMORY FADED AS I pulled a weeping Emma close with my arms. Seeing that side of her was still new for me, I had never experienced her sorrowful cries before. That experience was not something I enjoyed; seeing Emma in pain was horrible.

  Mary and I tried to shield her melody as best we could, but it was obvious that we could only prevent Terrans from sensing her from great distances. It wasn't easy to shield her from everyone she came into contact with, but we tried. I had to focus on shielding Emma more completely, and to figure out how to keep her safe. For that moment, her melody was contained, but how long would that last? Only a parent could completely suppress a melody. I was not her parent, not in the slightest. Her melody was so loud, so strong, and right then, she was also in torment. It ached. I ached everywhere. Her melody could have crumbled me to dust if she had wished it. As she felt such pure pain and torment, I felt it, too.

  Chapter 2

  I STOOD IN MY HOUSE and tried to focus my thoughts. I kept thinking about the hospital, being with Emma there, and I needed to stop. It was making me miserable. My house was cold, although there was no chill in the air. It was dark, even with all the curtains opened in the mid-afternoon, and the few pictures that hung on the wall throughout meant nothing to me. This place was better than the hospital room, than the blinking lights. I was grateful that at least that difficult time in the hospital was over and done with. I needed to focus on the next phase, the next task at hand. I placed my head in my hands and felt the cool surface of the counter seep into me, only making me colder as I inched my face closer and closer to the stone. The quiet around me only aided in attracting her melody from next door; it pierced through my consciousness. Maybe that was the reason Earthlings drank and did drugs—to numb themselves from the pain. I leaned back on the kitchen chair abruptly, running fingers through my hair in annoyance. I couldn't just sit there in that quiet, sterile place that I was supposed to call home on the Earth. I stood and walked to the living room, sank onto the black leather couch, and turned on the TV. I turned up the volume so loud that I wondered if my neighbors could hear. Neighbors?—Emma.

  "Gah! worlds!" I swore. No matter what I did, I couldn't escape experiencing the horror which Emma felt because of her parents’ deaths; it emanated from next door, directly into my soul. I had things I needed to get
done. I had things to figure out so that I could keep her safe. I was so distracted, I closed my eyes—maybe thinking about it, processing it all, as Mary said we all needed to do—would make it easier. I breathed in deeply and thought back.

  I wasn't sure if Emma remembered the night I took her home after she was released from the hospital. I was happy that Mary let me drive her home. The memory came flooding back to me.

  I DROVE EMMA HOME THE night she was released from the hospital, in what she always thought was my dad's car, but I had no father on Earth. The roads were deserted; still, I was too paranoid to have even a moment's peace during that twenty-minute drive home. Emma was asleep. When she wasn't crying—she was sleeping. As I pulled up to her house, their house, I turned off the ignition and looked at Emma's face. Lamont and Ara knew that shielding her soul would change her from who she was meant to be, but the risk of discovery was too great. I helped to convince them to do it. I did not want prince Shadrict to discover her. I knew he was looking for her. Just the thought of him believing for even just a moment that he belonged with her made me angrier than most things in the worlds ever had. I was protective of Emma, and how could I not be? With a melody like hers, Terrans would come across the country to find her—across worlds. There had only been one other time, other than after her parents’ deaths, when her melody had been released in its pure unshielded or unguarded form: the moment she was born.

  I pulled up the driveway and sat there, unable to move. I looked at Emma's sleeping form, and like always, I was transfixed by her, just like I was at the moment I first met her.

  I OPENED MY EYES, LOOKING around the living room where I sat. I looked at the screen in front of me and thought about that day when Emma was born, a much happier moment than the present, and I let myself reflect. I would never forget the day she was born.